books
Passage by Colin Thubron review
A terminally ill woman makes a final trip to Egypt in an exquisitely wrought portrait of end-of-life reckoning
TL;DR
- The novel "Passage" by Colin Thubron is described as a beautiful and moving work of art for adult readers.
- The story centers on Kathleen, a terminally ill Australian actor, who travels to Egypt.
- Kathleen's journey is complicated by her failing health, a stale marriage to a brain specialist, and unresolved feelings involving his younger brother, Alan.
- The Egyptian setting is evoked with vividness and familiarity, serving as a symbolic 'afterworld' for Kathleen's final experiences.
- The book explores themes of death, memory, and the possibility of love and transformation in the face of mortality.